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CHAPTER 3 THE MILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS IDEA

However, allow me to share a word of caution. The business
you choose must serve a large enough market for your
company to be profitable. In other words, there must be
enough customers who are willing and able to purchase your
product/service. How will you know this? Simply look at the
existing businesses that are serving this market. If they are
making money, then you can bet that there will profits for
you as well.

If there are no existing businesses (or if the businesses are
losing money) for the market you are going after, then it could
well mean that the market just doesn’t exist or isn’t big enough.
Instead of taking the gamble of trying to create a market for
your product/service, it is better to move on to a ready and
hungry market.

A few years ago, someone I knew decided to open a shop
selling Star Wars toys and memorabilia in Holland Village,
Singapore. Although he was totally passionate about Star
Wars collectibles, the business went bust simply because there
were not enough people in the country who were crazy enough
about Star Wars to support this unique business.

Specialized Knowledge: The Second Ingredient

Besides passion, it is also important to have specialized
knowledge to become the best in the business. I have found
that in any kind of business, there are certain trade secrets/
specialized knowledge that are needed to be successful. Only
the best in the business know these secrets.

Even if you have lots of passion, you may still fail if you don’t
know these trade secrets. For example, in the seminar business,
they are specific strategies on how to structure a successful

SECRETS OF BUILDING MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BUSINESSES 79